A source confirmed Friday afternoon that veteran tight end Antonio Gates will not re-sign with the team. Gates has expressed an interest in continuing his playing career, but would have to do so with a new team. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

COSTA MESA — After 15 years, Antonio Gates’ Chargers career is officially over.

The team confirmed Friday that the veteran tight end will not re-sign with the team, finalizing a possibility that had loomed for the past several weeks. He leaves as the Chargers’ all-time leader with 11,518 receiving yards, nearly 2,000 more than anyone else in franchise history. His 114 touchdown catches also mark a distant team record, as well as the highest career total by any NFL tight end.

So yes, Gates is a lock for the Hall of Fame, and a star who has become synonymous with the franchise since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2003. But he is also less than two months away from his 38th birthday. Despite his intent to continue playing football, any potential return to the Chargers would have meant taking on the smallest role of his decorated career.

The eight-time Pro Bowler saw just 52 targets last season, only 10 more than his career-low mark as a rookie in 2003. That number would have been even lower had tight end Hunter Henry — a 2016 second-round pick — not suffered a lacerated kidney in Week 15, forcing him to sit out the final two games.

Although Gates proved his worth in those two outings, catching 10 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown, and could offer similar value to the right team. That won’t be the Chargers, who have a talented young tight end in Henry and also must find a role for receiver Mike Williams after his injury-plagued rookie campaign.

Although the Chargers met with Gates’ representatives at the NFL scouting combine, they gave little indication that he would return. Asked about Gates on Monday, Chargers general manager Tom Telesco said that the two parties had not had any recent contact.

“These decisions are really, really difficult,” Telesco said Friday night. “We put a lot of thought into where this roster needs to go, fully knowing that Antonio stepped in last year when we really needed him and played really well.

“But as we were looking at it, we really fell like this Hunter Henry’s time. We need to get him even more involved than we did in the past.”

Even when the offseason program began two weeks ago, some Chargers acknowledged the possibility that Gates wouldn’t return to the locker room.

“I’ve been not only locker mates but spent a lot of time with Antonio over the last 14 seasons,” said quarterback Philip Rivers, now the longest-tenured member of the Chargers. “Great player. Great person. We all know our friendship.

“You’d love for him to get one more shot to be with us and go make a run at it. Like we’ve said every year, this is going to be the year. But who knows? If it were not to work out, and if he were to decide to hang it up, who knows? He’s had a heck of a run. He has nothing left to prove, that’s for sure.”

The path forward is uncertain. Gates expressed his desire to play again following the Chargers’ season finale, and ESPN reiterated on Friday that that remains the case. But given his age, Gates’ services might not be in high demand unless a team loses a tight end to injury during training camp.

If Gates signs with another franchise, he will join the list of Chargers stars who finished their playing careers elsewhere. Eight years ago, the franchise released running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who played two seasons for the Jets before retiring. Tomlinson eventually returned to the Chargers as a special assistant to owner Dean Spanos, a role created for him just months before his induction into the Hall of Fame last summer.

In 2003, the Chargers traded away Junior Seau, sending the linebacker to Miami after 12 Pro Bowl nods and an appearance in Super Bowl XXIX. That same offseason, they released safety Rodney Harrison. The two-time Pro Bowler signed with New England, where he eventually reunited with Seau.

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.

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